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Gearified: Seymour Duncan’s Dirty Deed Distortion Pedal

January 31, 2015

Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time.

For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week

January 30, 2015

What up, fools? We got all of the things fine enough (or bad enough) for you to check out or don’t check out. So, let’s just get into it, shall we? Napalm Death release Apex Predator-Easy Meat. Attacking this one for review is a little difficult, as I typically don’t do the “this track, that…

Encrotchment With Eddie Gobbo From Jar’d Loose: Super Bowl Edition

January 30, 2015

This weekend, yes, the Super Bowl occurs, and our odyssey together ends. There will be one winner. One loser. And more people pissed off than happy regardless of who wins or loses. Erin Go Bragh(less) Before we delve heavily in to this Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup from hell, does anyone remember the Seattle/Green Bay game…

SPOILING OUR READERS: Iron Reagan’s “Spoiled Identity” EP

January 30, 2015

Last June, we gave out a free Iron Reagan flexi disc to our subscribers, because we’re awesome like that. Still, that was free, and booze and drumsticks aren’t, so A389 have figured out a reason to charge you for it! It’s totally worth your hard-earned cash, though. Not only do you get two bonus tracks…

Hic Iacet Dig Up What Lies Buried

January 30, 2015

“Mysterious,” indeed.  When we heard the sonic sickness belched from Spanish sepsis-spewers Hic Iacet, we dimmed the lights and began casting about for something filthy to rub all over ourselves.  And we sought out an interview with the progenitors of these gruesome chords and vokills.  We were rebuffed, our request to gain access to the…

Lo! (and Behold) It’s an Interview and Video Premiere!

January 29, 2015

Australian sludge metal miscreants, Lo! have decided to celebrate the arrival of new vocalist, Sam Dillon by dunking him repeatedly into a vat of what looks like congealed Pepto Bismol in their brand new video, “Orca.” While some may see the video below as evidence of some cruel hazing ritual (whatever happened to the good…

Sons of Drayton Sawyer: Kaliya Serve Up “Human Meat”

January 29, 2015

We’re about a month out from the release of a seriously brutal self-titled full-length debut courtesy underground berserkers Kaliya, but Decibel has an exclusive preview of the Dallas quintet’s tasty grind-infused take on the classic Swedish death metal sound in the form of…”Human Meat.” For more information hook up with Kaliya via Facebook, Bandcamp, and…

Get Free Pallbearer Vinyl by Subscribing to Decibel

January 29, 2015

They’re too young for Hall of Fame consideration, but that’s probably the only honor Decibel hasn’t already bestowed upon Pallbearer. Both of their full-lengths have appeared in the top five of our year-end Top 40 list (Foundations of Burden being our favorite extreme album of 2014); they’ve graced the cover; they scored two slots in…

Streaming: Monolith’s “Caravan”

January 28, 2015

Gore House Productions is known for their embrace of some of the most depraved death metal on the planet. The bulk of their catalog would be considered NSFW. But gore-hound-in-chief Carlos Matt is launching a sister label called Funeral Noise Records that aims to embrace different and, dare we say, more accessible metal. Decibel got…

VALLEY OF THE DAMNED: Wells Valley’s “Matter As Regent”

January 28, 2015

We don’t hear much about Portuguese metal, but pissed off dudes make pissed off music no matter the geographic location. Wells Valley may not have the most threatening name, but their Gojira-style post-metal sure feels intense. These six tracks will crush you in their powerful grip, leaving nothing but devastation behind. Check them out below….

BURIED ALIVE IN BLACK METAL: Vivus Humare’s “Einkehr”

January 27, 2015

My friend and I spent a while trying to figure out what “Vivus Humare” means in Latin, and the best we could come up with was that it was a clumsy translation of “buried alive.” Whatever, though – bad Latin is one of the universal constants amongst metal bands, no matter where they’re from. This…

Limited number of TIAMAT “Wildhoney” 20th anniversary vinyl available now!

January 27, 2015

Right now you’re either praising the demigods that 2015’s first Snowpocalypse has confined you to your nice, warm couch, or cursing them for not dumping enough white stuff to keep you out of work. Either way, we’re sure nobody on your social media destination of choice has shut up about it, so Decibel has your kind…

VIDEO PREMIERE: Hate “Leviathan”

January 27, 2015

It’s only been two years since its last slab of blackened death metal, but Hate is back with album number nine in the form of Crusade:Zero. While the LP–which was recorded at Bialystok, Poland’s Hertz Studios (Vader, Decapitated, Behemoth)–doesn’t drop for another couple of weeks (February 10th in the US via Napalm Records to be…

Streaming: Imperial Triumphant’s “Dead Heaven”

January 26, 2015

The East Coast is about to get hit with a snowstorm of apocalyptic proportions in the next 24 hours or so. Could there be better timing to debut “Dead Heaven,” the first track off Abyssal Gods, the second album from the urban black metal band Imperial Triumphant? Here’s what we’re hearing: “Abyssal Gods focuses on…

Steve Jansson (Crypt Sermon) interviewed

January 26, 2015

** Philadelphia isn’t the hottest bed of heavy metal activity. Not since Cinderella and Britny Fox has the City of Brotherly Love engaged in traditional metalisms with any seriousness. And, let’s face it, apart from certain songs on Night Songs, there isn’t much heavy metal in either Cinderella or Britny Fox. So, it’s with denim…

Gearified by Matt Olivo: ESP Eclipse LTD EC-1000T

January 24, 2015

**Matt Olivo is the founding guitarist of extreme metal trailblazers Repulsion, whose Horrified LP ranks as Decibel’s #1 grindcore album of all time. Because we know that every reader ever plays guitar, we brought his print column to the Deciblog. In issue #120 Matt gave his feedback on ESP’s Eclipse LTD EC-1000T guitar, which “offers…

Devin Townsend Interview: Part 3

January 23, 2015

Over the past two weeks, we gave Mr. Townsend some blog space to explain his straining relationship with new metal and the direction he envisions for himself.  Today, we have the opportunity to find out which professional avenues the pop-progger absolutely refuses to follow.  Townsend also laments the problems of a repetitive lifestyle and the copy-of-a-copy types…

Melnick, Not Capote: Exclusive In Cold Blood Premiere!

January 23, 2015

They’rrrreeee back… This afternoon we’ve got the exclusive stream of the first new songs from In Cold Blood…and the Cleveland metallic hardcore guerrilla outfit — founded and still led by ex-Integrity legends Aaron and Leon Melnick alongside former and current members of Ringworm, Homewrecker and Meposkapheles(!) — are seriously not fucking around on these two…

Live From Dubai: Exclusive Nervecell Video Premiere!

January 23, 2015

Next week Unique Leader is set to reissue Psychogenocide — the 2011 sophomore LP from uber-brutal Dubai-based death metallers Nervecell — and to get both our visual and aural learners hyped for it Decibel has got the exclusive premiere of the band’s video for “Amok Doctrine” below. Preorder Psychogenocide here.

Encrotchment With Eddie Gobbo of Jar’d Loose: NFeLd Awards

January 23, 2015

Why do they call it football? A first down is 10 yards. The field is 100 yards. They should call it yardball. After an amazing 2014-2015 season, we have reached our final episode. The final game of Ink-a-dink. All your favorites characters are coming back. What better way to analyze our season and give rewards…

Exclusive: Napalm Death Video Premiere

January 23, 2015

Folks, that’s an animated Barney Greenway. Consider us chuffed. Napalm Death was recently featured on our cover in conjunction with the release of their massive new album Apex Predator-Easy Meat. In our story last month Greenway told us: “I know it sounds sickeningly upbeat but I’ve never gone into a show and been in the…

Griever’s Love is on the Rocks

January 22, 2015

Next month sees the release of Griever’s debut full-length, Our Love is Different. Set to be issued by the awesome folk(s) at Vitriol (in addition to that awesomeness, let’s not forget about the label’s sympathetic side as it deigned to release this bit of un-spellchecked wisdom), Our Love is Different follows on the heels of…

CONTEST: Heiress

January 22, 2015

Our friends at The Mylene Sheath are not messing around in 2015 (not that they did before). The label’s first release will be Heiress‘s sophomore effort, Of Great Sorrow, and happens to have been recorded by none other than Tad fucking Doyle. Not only should you check out a few tracks below, but don’t miss…

Streaming: Wolfpack 44 with Jinx Dawson

January 21, 2015

Decibel is stoked to premiere “To The Devil…A Daughter,” a track from the debut Wolfpack 44 album The Scourge, featuring additional vocals from Jinx Dawson, frontwoman of the legendary occult band Coven. Coven also released a version of the song on their latest album Jinx (Nevoc Music). Dawson wrote the lyrics, and Wolfpack 44 guitarist…

Track Premiere: VON, “Rise of the Ancients”

January 21, 2015

Seminal American black metal band VON has been very active ever since reuniting in 2010, following an 18-year absence. If you know your USBM, you’ll know that a pair of full-length albums, 2012’s Satanic Blood and 2013’s Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves, and you should know that there’s plenty more on the way. Not only…

Through a Speaker Rumbly: Caligari Records

January 21, 2015

“. . . tapes mean less risk, warm sound and affordability.” This installment of Through a Speaker Rumbly features a Q&A with Caligari Records owner, Hansel Merchor. Merchor has been running Caligari Records for about two years now and, in that short amount of time, besides having accumulated hundreds of my own hard-earned dollars, Merchor…

Dawn of “Uncreation”: Exclusive Disgrace Premiere!

January 20, 2015

Courtesy many of the same scene levelers who brought you Twitching Tongues and Nails now comes Disgrace, a quartet that seamlessly marries true blue classic American death metal buzz n’ pummel to premium metallic hardcore for a sound that is worthy of the predictably sick Dan Seagrave cover artwork. This morning we’ve got the exclusive…

LAVA IT OR LEAVE IT: Brothers of the Sonic Cloth’s “Lava”

January 20, 2015

Look at those three up there. That’s like 1000 combined years of grizzled. Fronted by Tad Doyle of the legendary TAD, a dude who’s only gotten heavier as he’s gotten older (sonically, that is), alongside scene veterans Peggy Doyle and Dave French, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth are heavier than a really heavy thing. Their…

March Decibel Featuring Leviathan Available Now

January 20, 2015

Black metal and baby bottles? No, we haven’t employed Anne Geddes as our cover photographer, and no, we haven’t lost our minds. It’s just the latest step in the tumultuous, unbelievable journey of Jef Whitehead, the one-man trailblazer behind USBM institution Leviathan. Just four years ago, Whitehead was arrested on multiple criminal charges, his legacy and life…

Deciblog Interview: Nunslaughter

January 19, 2015

Nunslaughter has been recording mandatory underground metal since 1987, a time when extreme metal was largely in retreat and teased hair was the norm. The band has been led for close to three decades by the inimitable Don Of The Dead (Donald Crotsley) a walking metal encyclopedia content to release the bulk of his band’s…